GKI Advisory Board

Jozef Ritzen

Jozef Ritzen

Jozef Ritzen

A physics engineer and economist (PhD, cum laude), Jozef Ritzen has taught in several different universities in the US and the Netherlands.

Previously, Professor Ritzen was Minister of Education, Culture and Science of The Netherlands from 1989 to 1998, making him one of the longest-serving Ministers of Education in the world. He subsequently served as Vice President of the World Bank's Human Development Network and as President of Maastricht University. Ritzen has also worked with UNESCO, UNDP and OECD, and served on the International Advisory Boards of the Universities of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Charles University in Prague-Czech Republic, University of Siegen in Germany and University of Bled in Slovenia.

Professor Ritzen has written or co-authored 12 books and numerous articles in the fields of education, economics, public finance and development economics.